The month of July has a special place in my heart because on the twenty-fifth day is the celebration of Santiago, Saint James, the patron saint of Spain. Some of you know who I am talking about since you have walked the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route to Galicia or have visited Santiago’s burial site in Santiago de Compostela....
It seems that every valley and village in Spain has its own special cheese.
From the sunny Balearic Island of Menorca comes Mahón, a wonderfully creamy combination of cream from three distinct strains of cows. The rounded orange-rinded cheese is reminiscent of Dutch Gouda or Edam. On the northwest coast, milk from the cows of Celtic Galicia are made into traditional...
What an amazing variety of cities and products, castles and crocuses in this fascinating part of Spain! We have traveled here and there over the region, but from the moment we first began exploring Spain, we were attracted to Toledo, just about an hour south of Madrid. There you can see a fascinating mosaic of all that has occurred in Spain over the past 2000 years.
This area of Spain contains an amazing treasury of art and architecture, some of which stretches back over a thousand years. It has been relatively untouched because the areas of interest are largely valleys nestled in the foothills of the rugged Pyrenees. The roads are winding and difficult to navigate in the winter contributing to a place minimally touched by modern life. Romanesque architecture...
